Curricular Unit
Contemporary Themes (5,5 ECTS) - 45 hours
Study cycle to which the curricular unit belongs (with academic semester and
scholar year)
BA in Social and Cultural Communication / 1st Semester / 2014-2015
Responsible academic staff member and lecturing load in the curricular unit
Eduardo Cintra Torres
Learning outcomes of the curricular unit
The seminar intends to present to students of Communication courses a set of
themes of the contemporary society, allowing for its study and reflection with the
participation of the students, based on readings and other type of activities. The
themes chosen are relevant for society in general and for the thickening of the
students’ general knowledge, allowing them to master methods of reflection and
research that will be useful to them as citizens and communicators.
Syllabus
The seminar syllabus includes seven themes. Four of them will be studied and
debated in class. The remaining three can be chosen by the students for their group
and individual Works.
1. Collective Effervescence Today: Religion, Football and Music
2. National Identity
3. Social Classes
4. Getting Old
5. Celebrity in the 21st Century
6. The Gift in Contemporary Society
7. Political Representation and the Empowered Individual of the 21st Century
Teaching methodologies (including evaluation)
Theoretical-practical methodology: each theme of the programme will be presented
by the teacher, followed by a discussion based on previous readings of a book and
other materials. Each theme study will also focus on the adequate theory and
methodology to arrive at a deeper knowledge.
Evaluation will consider:
 presence and active participation in classes, with intervention in debates and
written comments and/or worksheets; also, making 15 interviews for a public
opinion survey about one theme (30%)

working group (four students) about one of the seven themes, of their choice
(30%)
 final test: individual work about one of the seven themes, of their choice
(40%)
The complementary test for students with a final mark of 8 or 9 in the continuous
evaluation will be considered on average in the following proportion:
 Continuous evaluation
60%
 Complementary test
40%
Main bibliography
Each theme’s bibliography includes a mandatory reading, among to books, and
complementary readings to allow for the deepening the debate and enriching of
group and individual works. All mandatory readings are of small dimension. Foreign
students who do not master yet Portuguese will be given alternative readings.
1.
Durkheim, Émile. 2002. As Formas Elementares da Vida Religiosa, Livro II, cap. VII,
pp. 215-248.
Torres, Eduardo Cintra. 2013. A Multidão e a Televisão, Conclusões, pp. 345-54.
Lisboa, UCE.
2.
Mattoso, José. 1998. A Identidade Nacional. Lisboa: Gradiva.
Sobral, José Manuel. 2012. Portugal, Portugueses: Uma Identidade Nacional. Lisboa:
FFMS.
3.
Estanque, Elísio.2012. A Classe Média: Ascensão e Declínio. Lisboa: FFMS.
Carmo, Renato Miguel do, org. 2013. Portugal, uma Sociedade de Classes. Polarização
Social e Vulnerabilidade. Lisboa: Edições 70.
4.
Marques, Sibila. 2011. Discriminação da Terceira Idade. Lisboa: FFMS.
Rosa, Maria João Valente. 2012. O Envelhecimento da Sociedade Portuguesa. Lisboa:
FMMS.
5.
Torres, Eduardo Cintra. 2013. Economia e Carisma da Indústria Cultural da
Celebridade. In Vera França e João Freire Filho, Natureza e Construção da
Celebridade no século XXI (Belo Horizonte, Brasil; no prelo).
Torres, Eduardo Cintra. 2011. Televisão: A Celebridade em Estado Natural. In A Vida
como um Filme: Fama e Celebridade no Século XXI, eds. Eduardo Cintra Torres e José
Pedro Zúquete. Lisboa: Texto Editores: 81-104.
6.
Mauss, Marcel. Ensaio sobre a Dádiva. Lisboa: Edições 70 (capítulos a indicar).
7.
Castells, Manuel. 2013. O Poder da Comunicação, cap.1. Lisboa: Gulbenkian
Catroga, Fernando. 2011. Ensaio Respublicano. Lisboa: FFMS.